7 - Special Effects

Summary

The second case study chapter analyses the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in marketised global justice. A particular focus is on the treaty relationships between the ICC and other organisations, which integrate a global trade regime with a global criminal law regime. To demonstrate how this works, the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (CPA) is analysed. The CPA, a treaty regime that overlooks trade and political relationships between the European Union and seventy-nine African, Caribbean, and Pacific states, is presented as a mechanism that throws light on the ICC’s role in enabling and encasing. This integrated trade law and criminal law perspective offers a novel reading of the 2016 withdrawal announcements of three African states from the ICC. It also presents the reading of new policies by the ICC (in response to the backlash against it) as a ‘re-brand’ and therefore as deeper integration with the market.